ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO) – A legislative hearing on the proposed merger of Twin Cities-based Fairview Health Services and Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health is scheduled for Tuesday evening at the Capitol in St. Paul.
This hearing follows hearings in January hosted by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in St. Paul, Bemidji, Worthington, and Grand Rapids.
Ellison will testify along with former governors Tim Pawlenty and Mark Dayton, the CEOs of Fairview and Sanford, the dean of University of Minnesota Medical School, and a number of other stakeholders.
The proposed merger has faced opposition from organized labor, and leaders of the University of Minnesota and its medical school.
In late January, Ellison urged the two non-profit health care providers to hold off on a planned March 31 merger to allow more time for legislative review. In February, The health systems agreed to push back finalizing the merger until May 31.
Bills have been introduced in the Senate and House authorizing the state health commissioner to approve or disapprove any merger, and require any charitable assets received from the state be returned, if a merged system is controlled from out-of-state. The Senate committee will not vote on that bill Tuesday.
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